Monthly Archives: May 2008

Aerial remodel photo

Google Maps managed to snap an image of our house right in the middle of construction. Look closely at the lot in the center of this aerial photo of our house. You can see piles of lumber in our front … Continue reading

Posted in Our home remodeling project, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

California “hands free” law

California passed a “hands free” cellular phone law almost two years ago, but it hasn’t gone into effect yet. That’ll change on July 1, a little less than seven weeks from today. Neither my wife nor I have purchased a … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Demolition party article in LA Times

We were quoted in a [recent article in the Los Angeles Times](http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-re-demoparty11-2008may11,0,2980359.story). The author interviewed me a few months ago, but after the WSJ article I was hesitant to talk to another reporter. However, Michelle did a great job, didn’t … Continue reading

Posted in Our home remodeling project, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Ejecting stubborn Mac OSX disks

I’ve been using a Mac for several years, and I’ve had in intermittent problem: about once or twice a year, a CD-ROM will get “stuck” in the drive. In the past, I’ve only been able to eject the CD by … Continue reading

Posted in Mac OS X, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Kyocera EP510DN printer

We got a new [Kyocera][] printer at work a few days ago. The model we’re trying out is an “[EP510DN][]”. We had a heck of a time finding information for this printer on the Kyocera web site. In desperation, we … Continue reading

Posted in FreeBSD, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Apple “enchiladas”

A few months ago we hosted a family gathering/dinner in our new kitchen. (Yes, a dozen of us spent pretty much the whole evening in or around the kitchen.) We were having El Paso-style enchiladas for dinner, and Barb wanted … Continue reading

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

We passed!

We passed our final inspection on the first try! **WOO HOO!!!** Unfortunately we’re not yet finished with our remodel/addition. There are still a few items on the [punch list][], but the rest of the work is basically: * Telephone/network wiring … Continue reading

Posted in Our home remodeling project, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“Final” inspection today

We have our “final” inspection on the house/addition today. I don’t expect that we’ll pass on the first try, since nobody else I know has been able to pull that off. The final inspection punch list is empty for now, … Continue reading

Posted in Our home remodeling project, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

F minus 1

Final inspection is tomorrow! Our attic fans are both permanently installed, and the attic is relatively comfortable except from late afternoon until nightfall. The whole-house fan is wired, tested and operational. Our new fan is a 2-speed unit, whereas our … Continue reading

Posted in Our home remodeling project, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rest in peace, Ariana.

Ariana, our 16-year old cat, suffered complete renal failure a few days ago. The veterinarian confirmed it this morning, and even with heroic treatment there was almost no hope for her survival. The vet euthanized her about an hour ago. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment